The Life and Times of Gracie Faltrain (12 page)

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Jaclyn Moriarty
Finding Cassie Crazy

Protest in Mr Botherit's English Class today!

Do you value your life?

Then say NO to Mr B's Ashbury–Brookfield Pen Pal Project! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T WRITE A LETTER IN CLASS TODAY! If Mr B asks why, remind him that:

•
The reason judo is compulsory here at Ashbury is so we can defend ourselves against Brookfield students.

•
You can't get in to Brookfield unless you have a criminal record.

•
Brookfield students don't know how to read or write.

Year 10 is pretty crazy for best friends Lydia, Cassie and Emily, and when their English teacher starts the Pen Pal Project so that they can experience the Joy of the Envelope with boys from scary Brookfield High, life gets even crazier.

As Lydia turns into a secret agent and Emily a relationship expert, it is not so clear what is happening to Cassie. She is writing to someone, but not even her friends know what's going on. Does she even have a pen pal? Or has Cassie really lost it?

The eagerly awaited, deliciously humorous new novel from the author of the award-winning bestseller,
Feeling Sorry for Celia.

 

Jaclyn Moriarty
Feeling Sorry for Celia

Dear Ms Clarry,
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to join our Society. We have just found out about your holiday. It is so impressive! You had four assignments, an English essay and a chapter of Maths to do. And you didn't do one single piece of homework! Fabulous!
Also we have a feeling that you have a History test today. And you're trying to study now? On the bus? With the Brookfield boys climbing onto each other's shoulders to get to the emergency roof exit? And with Celia about to get on the bus at any moment? And you think that's going to make a difference!!! That's really very amusing, Elizabeth. We like you for it. You're perfect for our Society and we're very excited about having you join.
Yours sincerely,
The Manager
Society of People who are Definitely Going to Fail High School (and Most Probably Life as Well!)

‘Elizabeth Clarry is exactly the sort of person I'd love for a best friend'
MELINA MARCHETTA, AUTHOR OF
LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI

‘I absolutely loved it. I wish I'd written it'
MARIAN KEYES

‘Moriarty's writing is a hoot and her sense of irony perfectly placed in this hilarious addition to the genre of genuinely comic Australian young adult novels'
THE AUSTRALIAN

 

Markus Zusak
The Messenger

Meet Ed Kennedy – cab driving prodigy, pathetic card player and useless at sex. He lives in a suburban shack, shares coffee with his dog, the Doorman, and he's in nervous-love with Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence – until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace turns up.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town, helping and hurting (where necessary) until only one question remains. Who's behind Ed's mission?

The Messenger
, by the highly acclaimed author Markus Zusak, is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists and love.

‘
The Messenger
is comedic, romantic, thrilling, confronting, playful, deceptive . . . While it shares qualities with Nick Hornby's
How To Be Good
and Iain Softley's film
K-Pax
, it is cleverer, subtler and more profound than either and, as a bonus, determinedly Australian'
AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW

‘Zusak's honesty, openness and humour infuse this intriguingly structured novel . . . The originality of the story, its powerful themes and the questions it poses make
The Messenger
a meaningful reading experience. Highly recommended'
MAGPIES

‘strong, punchy and well drafted . . . an exhilarating and intriguing read'
READING TIME

‘affirmative, poignant and carefully considered . . . a remarkable tale of friendship and human connection and an absorbing and inspiring read'
GOOD READING

 

Markus Zusak
When Dogs Cry

‘You're a bit of a lonely bastard, aren't you?' said Rube. ‘Yeah,' I answered. ‘I guess I am.'

But Cameron Wolfe is hungry. He's sick of being the filthy, torn, half-smiling, half-scowling underdog. He's finally met a girl. He's got words in his spirit. And now he's out to prove that there's nothing more beautiful than an underdog who's willing to stand up.

A tough but poetic street story by the acclaimed author of
Fighting Ruben Wolfe
.

‘a surprisingly stylish package . . . convincing in its handling of teenage anxiety and ambition'
SUNDAY AGE

‘Markus Zusak . . . shows that the future is in most competent hands'
GOLD COAST BULLETIN

‘stands alone as an absorbing, deeply satisfying coming of age novel'
MAGPIES

‘this is one to make you laugh, cry and believe'
SPECIALIST CHILDREN'S BOOKSELLERS CATALOGUE

 

Susanna van Essen
The Tiger Project

Bella woke with a strangled feeling of panic. She had been trapped in the glass specimen jar again. She fumbled for the switch on her reading light and told her racing heart to slow down. It was only a stupid dream. Bella breathed deeply and tried to relax her frowning face muscles and tense shoulders. That thylacine pup seemed to be haunting her.

What begins with a visit to an exhibition on Australia's most famous extinct animals turns into something much more personal for Bella Brown – a search for identity.

Does Bella's absent biological father have more influence on her life than her very present stepfather? Why would her best friend have a crush on one identical twin and not the other? And is there a right time to die? Who would have guessed a baby thylacine in a preserving jar could prompt so many big questions . . .

The tiger project could end up giving Bella a whole new perspective on love, genes and mad dogs with rabies.

‘Highly recommended'
EDUCARE NEWS

‘Impressive'
THE SUNDAY TASMANIAN

 

Scot Gardner
The Other Madonna

Madonna O'Dwyer is not the mother of the Messiah and she's not a sex-powered pop diva. She's a hardworking girl with a drama queen for a sister and a dad who sounds Irish when he's drunk.

The mother who blessed (or cursed) her with her name died when she was young, leaving a hole in Madonna that, at seventeen, has become as raw as a decayed tooth.

Madonna's friends think she can heal with her hands, but Madonna has her doubts. Her hands make pizzas and wash dishes. Her hands caress the boy and smash down the door. Her hands strangle demons from her past and pray for a spirited future.

The hands of Madonna.
The other Madonna.

A humorous novel about piercing, pizzas and the healing power of love from the highly acclaimed author of
One Dead Seagull
,
White Ute Dreaming
and
Burning Eddy
.

‘Scot Gardner has done such a convincing job . . . Madonna O'Dwyer is unique, enormously likeable and believable. In Gardner's hands, her story is involving, moving, funny and immensely enjoyable. Highly recommended'
GOOD READING

‘Madonna is drawn with great compassion and sympathy'
THE AGE

 

Scot Gardner
Burning Eddy

‘Get a life, Fairy.'

In the country, where his fifteenth summer has burned the life from the grass, Daniel Fairbrother is searching. Looking for something that will make tomorrow seem worth the effort. Something that will fix the rot in his family tree. Stop it from falling apart under the weight of a thousand secrets.

Dan's clues come from the animals. And the Dutch woman.

He works in her garden. Eddy's eighty-six. She has a tattoo, a history, and can make music with her farts. She pays in cash and can read Dan's mind.

In a shady corner of Eddy's garden, Dan finds something growing . . .

Hope.

But something is burning.

‘I feel I could walk right on out the door and encounter Dan, Eddy or Wayne, the hero of Gardner's first two novels, so fresh and seemingly complete is their creation'
AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER

‘Exquisite . . . an honest and perceptive account of growing up'
MAGPIES

 

Scot Gardner
White Ute Dreaming

Ernie has a good life. Never has to go to school. Never falls out of love. Never knows what it's like to have his world turned upside down. Ernie's a dog. Unlike Wayne. Wayne is sixteen. Trapped.

With a bite as bad as her bark, his mum could be mistaken for a drill sergeant. With a bottle in a brown paper bag, his dad could be mistaken for a lost cause. But Wayne has found his dream . . . a white ute, Kez, the swag and his yellow dog. To go bush. Live it.

Wayne's best mates move. His favourite uncle dies. His dream takes a hammering. But at the bottom, if you're going to survive, you've got to look up.

From the author of
One Dead Seagull
comes a tragicomedy about life, death and a mad-arsed dog.

‘reassuring and real'
VIEWPOINT

‘an absorbing, honest and thoughtful novel'
AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER

 

Scot Gardner
One Dead Seagull

I got a flash of Dad running at me screaming. The brick grabbed and dragged me into the blade. My head smacked into the cover. My arm got stuck at the back of the blade and I could feel it cutting me. Rasping the bone. Red dust. Red blood. Black.

At times life seems brutal to Wayne. His mum and dad have been best enemies since they broke up, he thinks he loves Mandy but she loves Phillip, and his best mate Den is a serious health hazard. Even if Wayne survives the booby-traps and accidents that face him, Den could still get them both killed!

But no matter what the odds, Wayne has a lot of living to do. He's determined not to rot in the hot sand like a lone dead seagull.

From a fresh new voice comes a serious comedy about what happens when you make a truck-load of mistakes and a handful of gutsy decisions.

‘Entertaining and heartfelt . . . Scot Gardner presents pictures of youth with a compassion that endures'
VIEWPOINT

‘An often hilarious glimpse into a fifteen-year-old boy's life . . . Gardner has the ability to describe very funny events'
MAGPIES

 

Charlotte Calder
Cupid Painted Blind

If people have been stuffing up love since Shakespeare's time, what hope does Seph – or sefi_15 when she's online – have with Tom? Look at her parents: they barely speak to each other since Nick moved out, and could her mum
really
have a ‘thing' for their balding (not to mention married) neighbour? Even Seph's best friend Pia – boy magnet – is having problems. The forces of love, like the unbearably hot summer, seem to be beyond anyone's control.

And now a mysterious gremlin has invaded Seph's chat room and is about to make her life a whole lot more difficult . . .

A tale of midsummer madness and first love from the highly acclaimed author of
Settling Storms
.

Praise for
Settling Storms

‘A beautifully assured, engaging first novel – delightful and absorbing'
AGNES NIEUWENHUIZEN